Jellybeans
by RareReality
Summary: You can tell a lot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jellybeans." -Ronald Reagan


_You can tell a lot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jellybeans. -Ronald Reagan

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Darien ran his eyes over the small group sitting at the lunch table with him. The fluorescent over-head lighting cast a soft white light over the scene, while the vending machines let out a steady hum from their position next to the door. Darien popped a jellybean into his mouth, savouring the sweet flavour encasing the jelly centre.

"Hey, these are good, guys! Try some!" Bobby eyed the large blue bowl in the centre of the table suspiciously. He slowly shook his head.

"I dunno Fawkes. Who leaves a whole lotta jellybeans in the middle of a table for no reason? Seems a bit hinky." He picked a purple one up gingerly and put it to his nose, giving it a sniff. Darien rolled his eyes, popping another one into his mouth.

"Come on Hobbesy, they're jellybeans! Not bombs. And I don't think someone would try to poison you with jellybeans." Bobby looked over at Darien, who was now throwing jellybeans up in the air and catching them in his mouth. Finally, Hobbes sighed in resignation,

"If you say so partner." He placed a single jellybean in his mouth, giving it a taste before eagerly grabbing a small handful. Darien nodded at his friend, causing him to miss the jellybean he had just thrown up into the air. He made a quick grab for it, only to miss and have it fall on the blue and white linoleum of the cafeteria floor.

"Seven second rule," he muttered before snatching up the jellybean, giving it a quick blow and popping it into his mouth.

"You know Darien, it takes only a fraction of a second for germs to transfer onto dropped food, so I really wouldn't eat that if I were you," Claire said, looking up from the neat lines of colour coordinated jellybeans she had laid before her on the table. Darien paused his chewing to grin at her, before returning to his salvaged treat. Claire shook her head disapprovingly, before resuming her jellybean counting.

"Whatcha doing there Keepy?" enquired Bobby, through a mouth of sugary goodness.

She looked up and explained,

"I was counting them. Did you know that the manufacturers of these jellybeans only put in a fifth of the number of red jellybeans compared to the yellow ones? At first I didn't understand it, since yellow dye 273 is more expensive than the red dye, but then I realised that it has to do with manipulating buyers. Red is so much more popular than some of the other colours, so they put in a limited number of them, thereby forcing people to buy more packets to obtain more red jellybeans. The only reason they… Darien!" She glared as he picked up one of her red and yellow jellybeans and popped them both into his mouth.

"There just jellybeans, Keepy. Stop analysing them. Besides, I think the yellow ones are just as good as the red ones," he grinned

Just then, Eberts walked in through the door carrying a pile of folders. His face lit up when he saw the bowl in the centre of the table.

"Ahhh, jellybeans! Wonderful!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, we found 'em when we came in for lunch. Don't know who put them there, but I bet they wouldn't mind if you had some," Darien waggled his eyebrows at the accountant. Eberts eyed the bowl and licked his lips. Then he shook his head nervously before dismissing the idea,

"No, I really shouldn't."

"Ahh, come on Eebsie," Darien prodded, "you know you want to." Convinced by the agent Eberts put down his load of files and snagged a couple of jellybeans, before placing them in his pocket.

"Aren't you going to eat them now, Albert?" Claire enquired with an inquisitive look. The accountant shook his head and smiled, before picking up his files again.

"No, I think I'll save them until I'm hungry." He was about to walk out when the Official came striding in carrying a coffee mug. He spotted the bowl and his employees sitting around it. He smiled,

"Ahh, my jellybeans!" The Official went to take the bowl when Darien snatched it up and cradled it against his chest.

"Oh no you don't!" he exclaimed through a mouth of jellybeans, "These are ours, we found them." The Official paused for a moment, before smiling at the ex-thief.

"I know," he agreed, "I accidentally left them there." Darien let out a short laugh and raised an eyebrow.

"Prove they're yours," he demanded. The Official raised an eyebrow in return and countered,

"Prove they're not." Darien thought for a moment. There was no way he could win this fight.

"Fine," he sighed, "take them." He handed to bowl over to his boss and folded his arms like a petulant child. The Official accepted the bowl and grinned in triumph,

"Why thank you Darien, how generous of you." He strode out of the room carrying the bowl with Eberts tagging along behind him. Bobby sat with his mouth hanging open in disbelief over their loss. He jumped up from his chair and ran after the pair.

"Uhh, Sir? If I could just have a couple more it would be greatly appreciated," he yelled. Darien and Claire giggled. Suddenly Claire looked down sadly and stopped giggling.

"Oh no!" she complained, "I'm out of jellybeans!" Darien grinned conspiratorially at her and unfolded his arms, revealing the stash of jellybeans he had slipped into his shirt before handing over the bowl to the Official.

"Never fear, sweet jellybean-princess!" he announced boldly, "I will save you!" The pair giggled again, before tucking into their new stash of jellybean-goodness.


End file.
